Best Bets: Stage

The Red Light Series, a new program honoring the tradition of the Redhouse as the heart of Syracuse’s former red light district, opens at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, with “Radio Star,” featuring NYC underground comedienne Tanya O’Debra.

The one-woman show also runs at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 7 and 8, at the Redhouse, 201 S. West St.; $20; 425-0405.

Formerly of the comic sister duo, the O’Debra Twins, Tanya has performed at venues such as Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova, The Cutting Room, Comix and The Ohio Theatre. She was a member of Mo’s Hoes, the in-house sketch comedy team for Radical Vaudeville.

“Radio Star” is a 1940s detective show spoof in which Nick McKittrick, Private Dick, hilariously solves a murder in “The Case of the Long-Distance Lover.” O’Debra lends her voice to roughly 10 different characters.

Written and performed by O’Debra with original music by Andrew Mauriello, “Radio Star” was

nominated for three New York Innovative Theatre Awards.

-Russ Tarby

Staged reading of Fonte’s newest play

Len Fonte’s new play, “Melagrana,” will debut with a staged Sunday afternoon reading by the Armory Square Playhouse.

When American college student Margie Cameron arrives at an archeological dig in Sicily, she revels in the freedom that suburban America can’t provide, but soon learns that she’s also unleashed a passion she can’t control. Inspired by the murder case that riveted the world, Melagrana exposes a tangled web of lies.

Playwright Len Fonte has written “Werewolf,” produced by Rarely Done Productions, and “Wasted Bread,” produced by Armory Square Playhouse.

Fonte will direct Jeff Kramer’s new play, “Reaching For Marsby,” at its March premiere, and he serves as an adjunct instructor with SU Drama Department.

A talkback with the author will follow the reading, which begins at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9, at Jazz Central, 441 E. Washington St. Cost is $5 to $7; cnyplaywrights.org.